Cab Driver Robbed at Gunpoint in South Side

A cab driver was robbed at gunpoint then pistol-whipped by a passenger after he gave him and a friend a ride from Allentown to South Bethlehem on Tuesday night, city police reported.

The driver, Pedro Rodriguez-Filpo of Allentown, made the pickup at the 7-Eleven convenience store at 27 E. Susquehanna St., Allentown. The two men who got in the cab never gave Rodriguez-Filpo a destination, but told him where to turn, police said.

Once they arrived at Fifth and Hayes streets in Bethlehem, one of the men – described as 6-feet tall, skinny, with a dark complexion and wearing a white hooded sweatshirt – put a silver semi-automatic handgun to the driver’s head and demanded money, police said.

After Rodriguez-Filpo handed over about $174, the robber hit the driver in the head with the gun, police said. The two passengers left the taxi and fled west on Fifth Street at a little before 7 p.m. The driver then went to Fourth Street and had someone contact police.